South West Public Health Observatory

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Trends in life expectancyby social class 1972-1999
Extract from National Statistics News release: Trends in life expectancy by social class 1972-1999. 28 January 2002

Related life expectancy tables and charts on this web site:
By local authority/government region (to 1999) and by social class (to 1996)

Expectation of life has increased since 1972 for men and womenand for all social classes, according to figures for England andWales published by National Statistics.The figures show trends over the period 1972 to 1999, and arebased on the ONS Longitudinal Study .

There are wide variations in life expectancy by social class. Thelatest figures for life expectancy at birth, for 1997-99, show:

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For professional social classes, it was 78.5 years for malesand 82.8 years for females, 6.5 and 3.6 years more than in1972-76, respectively.

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For males in unskilled social classes it was 71.1 years in1997-99, 7.4 years less than for professional social classes.

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The difference between these social classes has widenedfrom 5.5 years in 1972-76, but it has narrowed from 9.5 yearsin 1992-96.

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For females in unskilled social classes it was 77.1 years, 5.7years less than for professional social classes. The differencebetween these social classes was 5.3 years in 1972-76 and6.4 years in 1992-96.

For people aged 65, the latest figures for remaining lifeexpectancy show:

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For men in professional social classes it was 17.5 years,which was 3.3 years more than in 1972-76. For women,remaining life expectancy was 20.8 years, 1.5 years morethan in 1972-76.

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For men in unskilled social classes it was 13.4 years - 4.1years less than for those in professional social classes. In1972-76, the difference between these social classes was 2.6and in 1992-96 it was 4.2 years.

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For women in unskilled social classes, it was 16.3 years - 4.5 years less than for those in professional social classes. In 1972-76, this difference was 2.9 years and in 1992-96 it was 4.4 years.
 

The Public Health Observatory is part of the South West Observatory, a wider Regional intelligence function, currently supported by the South West Regional Assembly, the Department of Health, Government Office South West, the South West of England Regional Development Agency and the Environment Agency.